Monday, 11 May 2026
Ugh! Woken by the alarm at 5.30am this morning, so that we could make it out to the boat ramp at the end of Gorge Road for the first Katherine Gorge cruise of the day at 7.00am. We prepped some fruit last night so that we could have the first part of our breakfast before heading out early. It’s too hard to eat breakfast early; a little bit of fruit to take the edge of was just enough breakfast to eat before sunrise.
Goodness, as we drove out towards the entrance for Nitmiluk Park, it started to drizzle. We’ve not had much of the wet stuff up here. It is supposed to be Dry Season after all. While at Kakadu, around Darwin and at Litchfield we became accustomed to seeing flood warning markers topping out at 1.4 metres. As we drove out Gorge Road we were seeing markers for 6 metres! With the Big Wet this year, we imagine the waters must’ve been getting close to, or even greater than, that depth. Bernie watched webcam footage during the floods that showed the water lapping at the bottom of the bridge on the Stuart Highway, but we’re not sure how that water level would translate to Gorge Road??
We arrived in the car park near the boat ramp, parked the truck with just one other vehicle, and walked down to the boat ramp. We wondered if there would only be four to six of us on the boat this morning? We had our name ticked off. It wasn’t spelled correctly, but it was close enough for the guide to let us on without having to bring up the confirmation email on Bernie’s phone, ha, ha. We continued down to the boat, which already had more than four passengers on board, so quite a few must have arrived on foot from the nearby campsite. The front seats were already taken so we settled for ‘window’ seats, one behind the other, about half way down the open-sided vessel.
Our boat driver, Liam, introduced himself and guide, Russell. After the obligatory safety spiel, we cast off and headed off into Gorge 1. Russell took the mic and told us that he is a Jawoyn man on his father’s side and Indonesian/Dutch on his mother’s side, which is why he is so pretty! Ahem, in the eye of the beholder I guess?? No idea about Liam’s heritage but … he WAS good looking.
The morning continued to be obstinately overcast, so we didn’t get to appreciate the sun rising and casting its rays onto the cliff faces. On the plus side, it was blessedly cool but not puffer jacket cool, in our opinion, and yet, there was one passenger shivering in her puffer jacket. The other HUGE plus was that there were no mosquitoes, unlike the sunrise cruise on Yellow Water in Kakadu, which was plagued by the pesky little blood suckers.
Russell told us several stories about the Dreaming and the creation of the gorge known as Nitmiluk (pronounced nit-me-look) by the Jawoyn people. This translates as place of the cicada dreaming and relates to the creation figure, Nabilil, travelling through the area and hearing the cicadas singing ‘Nit, Nit, Nit’.
Russell also pointed out debris, including a tree trunk, left behind after the flooding earlier this year. Although this year’s wet season was not as big as 1998, the debris was snagged in tree branches several metres above the current level of the river. It is hard to comprehend just how much water there must be during the rainy season.
Usually, by this time of the year, we would be able to cruise through more of the gorges. However, during Dry Season, you cannot cruise between the gorges, you have to disembark and walk over some of the natural rock barriers that appear between the gorges as the waters recede. At the moment it is still not safe to walk between Gorge 1 and Gorge 2. When asked, Russell said that it looks like being at least another two to three weeks before the longer cruises are available. However, Gorge 1 is the longest gorge, so we were still able to enjoy an hour and a half of amazing scenery.
We didn’t see any crocodiles this morning but we did see two croc traps. The rangers have only started monitoring for crocs TODAY. They will monitor (and trap/remove as necessary) for six to eight weeks before the gorges will be declared safe for swimming and canoeing. It’s quite a process assessing and clearing the crocs that have found their way into the gorge during the wet season. The gorge is home all year round to the freshwater crocs. These timid little fellas are not evicted, they are allowed to stay because they are not dangerous to humans like their saltwater cousins.
After our cruise we drove back to the Discovery Park to finish our breakfast. Then, in a rare occurrence, thus far on this holiday, we enjoyed a couple of hours just relaxing in our room. With the cloud cover, and a slight breeze, it remained comfortable enough to sit around without the a/c going. Yes, the heat is oppressive and, yes, the a/c is lovely and cool but, I do get a bit sick of the artificially cooled environment and enjoy some fresh air occasionally.
As noon approached, we jumped into the truck to drive south on the Stuart Highway to Cutta Cutta Caves. Today is the first day that they have opened since the end of the wet season! Phew, we are just about managing to see what there is to see in Katherine after it being a late end to a very BIG wet season. We were certainly right to give ourselves the extra 10 days to travel to Kakadu and Darwin and then ‘do’ Katherine on our way back through.
Formed millions of years ago, the Cutta Cutta Caves system is home to a variety of native wildlife. Located 27 kilometres from Katherine, Cutta Cutta Caves Nature Park covers 1,499 hectares of natural limestone karst landscape. The cave is home to five species of bats, including the rare Ghost and Horseshoe bats and around 170 species of birds. Our guide, Marge, and sidekick (trainee guide), Mae, took us outside the visitor centre and warned us to look out for rocks and snakes on the path to the cave entrance. Yikes.
I was relieved to arrive at the entrance without stumbling over a rock or seeing a snake! We had thought we were going to have a private tour of the cave but, with five minutes to go, another visitor turned up. Even so, two guides and three visitors made for a good tour, not having to jostle for position within the confines of the cave.
After warning us again about brown tree snakes (hardly even venomous, said Marge) and olive pythons that make their home in the cave, it was time to go in. Even though we have visited many limestone caves all over the more southern states of Australia, this one was different again from any we have seen before. For a start it was warm and humid. Our previous experiences have been cooler but then, we haven’t visited a cave in the topics before. And, we encountered the olive python. We’ve never seen a snake in cave before and, because it was a python, I could cope with that. Besides, she was curled up around a rock well off the path, although earlier, she had been relaxing on the handrail. I would have found THAT a bit more confronting. Marge said that they call her Glenda but she thinks she should be Elphaba because she’s an (olive) green snake. Her boyfriend is, Greg.
Marge showed us all sorts of interesting things including the area where the snakes like to lay their eggs. She was quite a fan of the snakes! However, the most important part of the cave’s ecosystem is the bats. Without the bats there would be no other animals. Basically, the bats poo in the cave, insects eat the poo, frogs eat the insects and the snakes eat the frogs … and the bats. In addition to the usual formations (stalactites, stalagmites, shawls, straws and columns) Marge also pointed out a section of petrified mud. She told us that scientists are quite keen for this to fall from the roof so they can study the wreckage and learn more about the cave system. Then there was the story about putting red dye into the cave during this season’s big wet so that they could see where it came out. Katherine Hot Springs as it turns out, much to the surprise of people at the hot springs.
As we were walking back from the cave, I asked the girls where they are from. Guess, they said. Hmm, Poland? Ha, ha, we get that a lot but, no. Turns out they were French. Usually I can pick a French accent but, not today. Learning that they are from France, I rather suspect that their names are not actually Marge and Mae, they have anglicized their names to make life easier?
We drove back to town, stopping at the Caltex on the way, for yet another servo sandwich. The plan had been to buy something from the kiosk at the caves but, with it being their first day of opening for the season, the kiosk wasn’t stocked with anything other than crisps, chocolate and soft drinks.
After visiting Woolies for a few more items, we drove to the Katherine Hot Springs. These natural thermal springs are situated on the banks of the Katherine River within the Katherine township. We changed into our bathers and made our way to the series of pools nestled within the surrounding vegetation. In the pictures on the internet the pools look pristine and wonderfully clear. The reality was that they are a bit cloudy at the moment and … a bit too wild for me. Really, I should have put my water shoes on so that I couldn’t feel the leaf litter in the bottom. That would have solved the squidgy feeling underfoot!! And … they weren’t really very warm. Perhaps they seem warmer in July when it’s cooler here?
We arrived back at our cabin as fighter jets flew over. Checking on the internet, I’m reasonably confident that they were F-35A Lightning II aircraft. No. 75 squadron operates from the RAAF Base Tindal, which is just 15 kilometres south east of Katherine, and this is the aircraft that they fly.
I was sitting outside when some birds with white heads and tail tips started flying around, dust bathing and squabbling with each other as they foraged. Google to the rescue again. Almost certain they were Gray-crowned Babblers
Tonight’s home cooked dinner was a bit of a drama. Bernie was going to BBQ the pork chops and the potatoes, while I boiled carrots and sautéed sauerkraut on the two burner hotplate. But, the BBQ wasn’t working and Bernie arrived back at the cabin with still raw meat. Then we had to work out how to grill the meat in the convection microwave that has a grill function. Not experienced with convection microwaves, it took a while to work out (OK, Google told us) that the grill function that offers Grill 1, Grill 2 and Grill 3 options needs to have Grill 1 selected for the hottest grilling temperature. We eventually sat down to overcooked carrots and well-cooked pork chops. The potatoes were cooked but not crispy and, really, you can’t spoil sauerkraut, ha, ha. We are going back to the Katherine Club for dinner tomorrow night!
Steps: 8,760 (5.72kms)
